Antibiotics or antibacterial agents are agents that are used to inhibit the growth of or kill bacteria. As commonly known, bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics or antibacterial agents. Resistance of a bacterium to an antibiotic can range from substantially greater tolerance or reduced susceptibility to completely unaffected by the antibiotics. When a bacterium cannot be controlled or killed by antibiotics or antibacterial agents, the bacteria is able to survive, multiply and cause disease or damages to the hosts despite being in the presence of the antibiotic when such scenario occurs, the bacteria is considered resistant to drug (i.e. drug resistant bacteria). Due to the increased reliance on antibiotics to treat common diseases, antibiotic resistant bacteria are rapidly on the rise. Such antibiotic resistant bacteria have become a significant public health threat.
One of the commonly known antibiotic resistant bacteria includes Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis, which continues to be a leading killer world-wide. Despite availability of effective antibiotic regimens, the last decade has seen increasing incidence of drug resistance in human infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. World Health Organization (WHO) data indicates that almost 300,000 of the new tuberculosis cases are associated with multi- and extensively drug resistant (MDR and XDR, respectively) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Accordingly, it is desirable to design or invent new strategies to control infection with drug resistant mycobacteria. One such strategy could be methods or compounds that enhance the host immune system.